Instructors

"There are no teachers; we are all students, bound together in infinite expansion of growth and exploration. We are not teachers, and yet we teach - not with the attitude of a great yogi or yogini, but as a servant or fellow seeker joyously sharing with others the knowledge and training we ourselves have found." - Rama Jyoti Vernon

Jessica Merwin, 200 RYT, Kundalini Yoga Instructor, Accredited Chakradance Facilitator, and current owner of New Moon Yoga has been exploring healing modalities such as yoga, qigong, shamanism, meditation, and dance for nearly a decade. She knows the powerful shifts and healing that energy work has brought into her life and is eager to share this passion with others. Jessica became a Chakradance Facilitator in 2017 and a Kundalini Yoga Instructor in 2018 (through Gloria Latham Semperviva Yoga College). Daily yoga, movement and meditation practices changed her life immensely, helping her find true happiness and inner-peace. She steps forward with enthusiasm, clarity, and commitment to help others become the best version of themselves.

Mari von Walthausen, RYT500, previous owner of New Moon Yoga, was introduced to yoga early on and immediately hooked by a new sense of calm and a more steady perspective on life. Her teaching style is gentle and inviting, with a desire to find the inroads for self-discovery and deeper connection to the natural world around us. "We are beings sharing the same building block molecules with every other being…sweetgrass, swallows, streams, stars…sharing the same breath…and sharing the same deep inner knowing." Mari sees Yoga as that gentle guide toward re-membering this wholeness and expansive sense of self.

Naomi Cole, E-RYT 200, is 200 Hatha Yoga Certified, a Birth & Postpartum Doula, Prenatal Yoga Certified through Mama Tree Yoga of San Francisco, and Postnatal Yoga Certified through Toronto Yoga Mamas. Naomi was introduced to meditation and yoga at eight years old, and would use these practices to help with calming the mind and body as a child. She is passionate in teaching others, having them personally learn the benefits of a yoga practice and meditation. Helping others to find their balance and peace is her goal in teaching. Naomi was taught The Mandala of the Five Wisdom Dakinis meditation, by Lama Tsultrim Allione, the first American to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddist nun in the Karma Kagyu lineage. Naomi also was taught and practices Primordial Sound Meditation, a powerful meditation technique rooted in the Vedic tradition of India. Using personal mantra, a sound vibration, when repeated silently helps to deepen levels of awareness in the meditation to pure awareness. Naomi also enjoys spending time with her husband and two dogs, loves being outside in nature, hiking, camping, paddle boarding, and cross country skiing. She is an artist, soap maker, helper with charity work, and health connoisseur.

Molly Stimac, RYT200, loves to create space within the body for healing as well as creating physical space for people to open up to yoga’s capabilities. She believes yoga’s transformative power finds us when we need to transform the most. Molly is an insured 200hr. RYT, certified with Yoga Alliance. She completed her training with Kelly and Ted Stiglich at Shanti School of Yoga. When she’s not on the mat, you may find Molly exploring the woods with her family, mixing up medicinal mushrooms and herbal teas, or reading.

Terry Griffin, GCFP, is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner based in Traverse City, MI. She moved to beautiful northern Michigan in 2016, after retiring from her Chicago career as an Interior Architect and Designer. Terry and her husband enjoy an active outdoor life of hiking, biking, kayaking, swimming and snowshoeing. Terry discovered the Feldenkrais Method® 24 years ago, after suffering many years from chronic back pain, back surgery and re-injury due to repetitive stress and poor self use. After experiencing seemingly miraculous results, she became fascinated with the method and movement lessons and learned that she could be pain free and help others to be more comfortable in their bodies too. Terry teaches this extraordinary movement-based learning method in two ways. Group classes, called Awareness Through Movement®, help her students prevent and reverse deterioration of function. Terry also teaches at her in-home studio, private sessions, called Functional Integration®. These individual sessions are more precisely formatted to address the client’s specific injury or restricted movement patterns due to work habits, stroke, illness or chronic pain. Some clients take a private session to help them lower their stress level or to find balance and a better golf score. Terry trained in the Feldenkrais Method® four year Chicago program with Paul Rubin and Julie Casson Rubin, and works with people of all ages and backgrounds. For a more thorough explanation of the Method, please go tohttps://www.feldenkrais.com/feldenkrais-method-faqs/

Brooke DeVault, RTY200, was born and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan and attended the school of natural resources at the University of Michigan. After graduation she started working for the National Park Service in San Francisco. It was there in 1999 that she took her first yoga class with Mary Jarvis. She went to yoga class to rehabilitate her knees that were in bad shape from years of running and came out with a life long practice. Brooke continued working as a biologist in Northern California and had the opportunity to study Ashtanga yoga with Peggy Profant, Hatha yoga with Amanda Dozal as well a number of other insightful teachers. In 2016, she and her California-born husband, young daughter, and two dogs relocated to Traverse City. Here she completed her 200 hour yoga teacher training with Jenny Lintvedt and Heidi Dietrich. Brooke’s goal as a teacher Is to help others feel better in their bodies. In her free time she enjoys spending time with friends and family in the great outdoors hiking, skiing and gardening.

Devin Moore, RYT200 began practicing yoga around the age of 14 and quickly realized how much the sequences resonated with her. After attending college for a few years, Devin took a two-year break and rediscovered her yoga practice. She found that yoga gave her strength, inspiration, and peace both mentally and physically. She decided to share the gifts yoga gave her with the community by becoming a 200-hour RYT through Shanti School of Yoga in 2014. Upon spending several months solely teaching yoga, Devin decided to finish her college degree in order to help and reach even more people. She moved to Marquette and finished her bachelor’s degree in Community Health Education at Northern Michigan University. This degree allows Devin to help people prevent chronic and noncommunicable diseases through education, nutrition, and exercise. Devin is currently the Education and Outreach Coordinator at Oryana Community Co-op, where she is able to educate the community through food, presentations, collaborations, and information. Devin believes that being healthy is not just an exclusive trend, but a lifestyle attainable for all through the right foods, environment, and exercise--and she is happy to be able to help others achieve it!

Naomi Sophia Call is a certified Kripalu Yoga teacher which she explains as “an intuitive Hatha based style that can be adapted for every one.” She has taught yoga for 25 years and specializes in working with the elderly, people in chronic pain and those who are journeying with diseases and illnesses. For over 35 years Naomi has worked in the healing arts, as: a nutritionist, chef, herbalist, healer, international author, workshop leader and teacher. She recently moved to the Traverse area from southern California.

Emma Thomas, RYT200 and certified meditation facilitator, finds joy in helping others retreat into their own peace of mind through quiet, gentle, and intuitive Yoga practices. She has experienced first hand the healing power of practice on the mental, physical, and spiritual body, and has a strong desire to share this experience with others. Outside of her personal practice and teaching career, she finds peace on the water, in the garden & forest, and around loved ones & animals.

Sara Boys, Certified lyengar Instructor, began studying Iyengar yoga in 1980 and became a Certified Iyengar instructor in 1993. In 1994 she moved to Traverse City and taught in Suttons Bay and at her home studio and later at NMC. While cruising the Mediterranean with her husband for 10 years, she taught other cruisers yoga and advanced her knowledge of yoga through classes in Madrid, Barcelona, Lesvos, Provence and Paris. Now back in Traverse City full time she enjoys continuing study with Mary Reilly, a Senior Certified Instructor in Petoskey, as well as workshops with other Senior Iyengar instructors. A secondary teacher since 1966 Sara holds a MA in Exercise Physiology and Health Promotion. Additional interests include volunteering at Meadowlark CSA farm, hiking, singing and traveling.

Janice Johnson, RYT200 Having tried a few yoga classes in earlier years, Janice really came into her yoga practice later in life finding that it offered her a sustainable, enjoyable and individually adaptive path toward improved wellness in mind, body and spirit. She entered yoga teacher training to deepen her own practice which led to an interest in sharing the yoga path with others. She enjoys the continual process of learning and sharing her knowledge and believes it is never too late to start a yoga practice and experience its many benefits. It is her belief that it is important for each of us to take a proactive, preventative approach to self-care and that a mindful yoga practice can be an integral part of that lifestyle. Her style is gentle and peaceful and she welcomes all to explore a journey of self-discovery and wellness.